BACK LIST
OOKS
1— ; JUST PUBLISHED '
I Broken Blood: The Rise and Fall at
I the Tennant Family Simon Blow (Faber £14.95) Blow by Blow story of the family who began as Ayrshire rustics and ended up — via the invention ofbleach — rulers of Mustique. Well. at least Princess Margaret‘s pal did. But the real hero
, and heroine of this family affair are Pamela Tennant and her artist son Stephen. the author's uncle. who took to his bed in the early ‘50s and stayed there for thirty years until he died. Not surprisingly. the book has been the subject ofa litigation. I David Copperfield Charles Dickens (Oxford UP £4.95) Ridiculously cheap hardback edition of the great classic. complete with original
Interviews by the Guardian‘s egghead journo with ‘uncommon men‘. So how come (iermaine (ireer. Joan Sutherland and Winnie Churchill‘s daughter have sneaked in'.’ Sub-title aberrations apart this is a splendid gaggle of intelligent voices with Coleman interjecting knowledgeably.
I Character Parts John Mortimer (Penguin £295) Less weighty but no less enjoyable encounters with the fallen and the risen. and vice-versa. including such luminaries as Christine Keeler. Boy George and Jimmy Boyle. Mortimer brings a barrister's patience to his interviews and always asks the questions you would like to even if they do solicit staple replies. But Toyah gives good value. Asked about the youths in the King‘s Road wearing Nazi regalia she admits: ‘I used to wear a loo chain when I was young but that didn't mean I was a toilet.‘ But she‘s flush now. ain‘t she‘.’
illustrations. You can buy the master's entire ocuy re in 21 yols for under £101) in this uniform edition. The bargain ofthe millenium.
I Movers and Shakers Terry Coleman (Andre Deutsch 12.95)
I Flann O'Brien: An Illustrated Biography Peter Costello and Peter Van De Camp (Bloomsbury 14.95) The worst crime of which I have been the victim was the non—return of a book I lent to a nightclub hostess. The book was The Best ()fMyles by Flann ()‘Brien or. as he was christened. Brian ()‘Nolan. Precious little is known about ()‘Nolan‘s life and any titbits are welcome. He was born in Dublin. one of twelve brothers and sisters in a home where Irish was the common tongue. He was educated by the Jesuits and went to university where he had a distinguished record on the
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. fig. ‘ '4 unacademic side though did graduate and turned in a thesis which was accepted second time round. He entered the Irish Civil Service and rose meteorically. managing in the process to refine his working day to one and a half hours. The first of his several novels (one can‘t be definite how many). A! Swim- Two-Birds was published in 1939. thanks largely to a recommendation from Graham (ireene. and he began to write incomparable columns for Irish newspapers under a multiplicity of pseudonyms. He is arguably and to the taste of many. the funniest writer of this century. He died in 1966 after a long affair with the bottle. Though he married. his wife seems to have
ART BOOKS FROM SCOTLAND
9/2 War/gm
Valerie Reilly
- . SWIM/17.2
£14.95 .96 pages Hardback This wide-ranging and lucid history traces the Paisley pattern on its journey from the needle to the loom, the east to the west and its climactic impact on tlte world of fashion. lavishly illustrated in full colour throughout ll 11-", l’:\lSI.l-‘,\' I’;\’l”l‘liR.\' makes the ideal gift.
Jocelyn (irigg
£5.95 M/ECFINT‘y-l 3.
An indispensable fully illustrated guide 1. 1‘, to the architect. designer and water- colourist who, for his futuristic vision, \ was acclaimed father of the modern \ movement. ‘(
Available from John Smith and all good bookshops.
Richard Drew Publishing Ltd, b Clairmont (iardens. Glasgow (13 TIW Scotland Tel. 1141-333 9341 Telex 7773118
PHIL
£3.95
David 8. Charles
00L
58 The List 11 Dec1987—7Jan 1988